The NYC Parks Department has opened the lottery portal for the Urban Park Rangers’ Family Camping program — free overnight camping in city parks, where camping is normally prohibited. A new lottery opens every Monday and runs four days, each about 10 days before its outing; the season runs through Sept. 18, with the final trips at the Blue Heron Nature Center on Staten Island and at Rockaway Beach. Applications are via the parks department lottery. Central Park applications open Aug. 3 for the Aug. 14 excursion.
It’s free, tents are provided, and you bring your own food, snacks, and sleeping bag — no family required; the program exists to give first-timers their first camping experience. Outings include ice-breaker games, night hikes to spot raccoons, bats, and opossums, and stargazing when the sky is clear. The program fields ~300 applicants per outing and selects 30 campers (typically 5-8 families). Rangers’ tip: the less-flagship parks (Alley Pond, Van Cortlandt) deliver more of a real camping experience than Central Park.